Chapter 8

Socializing, Orienting, and

Developing Employees

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 1

 Introduction

 Ideally, employees who understand and accept

the organization’s ways will be able to attain
their own goals.

 HR helps employees become well-adjusted and

productive through socialization, training, and
development programs.

In other words, they’re hired – now what?

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 2

 The Insider-Outsider Passage

Socialization, or “onboarding” is a process of

adaptation to a new work role

 adjustments must be made whenever individuals

change jobs

 the most profound adjustment occurs when an

individual first enters an organization, i.e., outside to
inside

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 3

 The Insider-Outsider Passage

The Assumptions of Employee Socialization

1 2
socialization strongly
influences new members
employee performance suffer anxiety
and organizational stability

3 4
socialization does not occur individuals adjust to new
in a vacuum situations in similar ways

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 4

 The Insider-Outsider Passage

The Socialization Process

Prearrival Individuals arrive with a set of values, attitudes,

and expectations developed from previous experience and the
selection process.

Encounter Individuals discover how well their expectations

match realities within the organization. Where differences
exist, socialization occurs to imbue the employee with the
organization’s standards.

Metamorphosis Individuals have adapted to the

organization, feel accepted, and know what is expected of
them.

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 5

 The Insider-Outsider Passage

The Socialization Process

Outcomes

Productivity

Prearrival Encounter Metamorphosis Commitment

Turnover

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 6

 The Purpose of New-Employee Orientation

Orientation

 may be done by supervisor, HR staff, computer-based programs,

or some combination
 can be formal or informal, depending on the organization’s size
 teaches the organization’s culture, or system of shared meaning

What if a merger occurs? Merging cultures can be tricky.

See http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080101/first-the-merger.html

Socialized employees know how things are done, what matters,

and which behaviors and perspectives are acceptable

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 7

 The Purpose of New-Employee Orientation

See how some big companies define their cultures:

http://www.southwest.com/careers/culture.html

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/diversity/sharedvalues.html

http://www.google.com/corporate/culture.html

http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/321.aspx

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 8

 Employee Handbook

HR’s permanent reference guide:

the employee handbook.

 a central source for teaching employees company mission

history, policies, benefits, culture

 employers must watch wording and include a disclaimer

to avoid implied contracts

http://humanresources.about.com/od/handbookspolicies/a/sample_handbook.htm
lists items that may be included in an employee handbook

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 9

 The Purpose of New-Employee Orientation

Top management is often visible during the new

employee orientation process.

CEOs can
1. welcome employees
2. provide a vision for the company
3. introduce company culture
4. convey that the company cares about employees
5. allay some new employee anxieties

HR has a dual role in orientation.

Coordinating Role: HRM instructs new employees when and where to
report; provides information about benefits choices.
Participant Role: HRM offers its assistance for future employee needs
(career guidance, training, etc.).

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 10

 Employee Training

Employee training is now-oriented.

designed to achieve a relatively permanent change in an individual

that will improve his or her performance
training goals should be tangible, verifiable, timely, and measurable
training is either on-the-job or off-the-job

Employee development is future-oriented.

helps employees to understand cause and effect relationships,

learn from experience, visualize relationships, think logically.
not only for top management candidates; all employees benefit

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 11

 Employee Development

adventure job
training rotation

employee
assistant-to
simulations development
positions
methods

lecture
committee
courses/
assignment
seminars

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 12

 Employee Development

job rotation

moving employees to various positions in the organization to

expand their skills, knowledge, and abilities

assistant-to
positions

employees with potential can work under and be

coached by successful managers

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 13

 Employee Development

committee
assignment

provide opportunities for decision-making, learning by watching

others, and investigating specific organizational problems

lecture courses/
seminars

benefit from today’s technology and are often offered in a

distance learning format

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 14

 Employee Development

simulations

include case studies, decision games, and role plays -

and are intended to improve decision-making

adventure training

typically involves challenges that teach trainees the

importance of teamwork

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 15

 Organization Development

 organizational development (OD) efforts also force

change on employees, whether newly hired or seasoned

 change agents help employees adapt to the organization’s

new

systems people

processes technology

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 16

 Organization Development

Two metaphors clarify the change process.

 calm waters: unfreezing the status quo, change to a new

state, and refreezing to ensure that the change is permanent

 white-water rapids: recognizes today’s business environment,

which is less stable and not as predictable

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 17

 Organization Development

Organizational development facilitates long-term

organization-wide changes.

OD techniques include:
1. survey feedback gets workers’ attitudes/perceptions on the
change
2. process consultation gets outside experts to help ease OD
efforts
3. team building strives for cohesion in a work group
4. intergroup development achieves cohesion among different
work groups

change can be stressful for employees

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 18

 Organization Development

A learning organization values continued learning

and believes a competitive advantage can be gained
from it.

Characterized by

 a capacity to continuously adapt

 employees continually acquiring and sharing new knowledge
 collaboration across functional specialties
 supporting teams, leadership, and culture

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 19

 Evaluating Training and Development Effectiveness

Evaluating Training Programs

 typically, employee and manager opinions are used,

 these opinions or reactions are not necessarily valid
measures
 influenced by things like difficulty, entertainment value or
personality of the instructor

 performance-based measures (benefits gained) are better

indicators of training’s cost-effectiveness

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 20

 Evaluating Training and Development Effectiveness

How can HR evaluate training method results when

measures aren’t easy to calculate?
Through Kirkpatrick’s model:

Level 1
What was reaction to training?

Level 2
What was learned?

Level 3
Did training change behavior?

Level 4
Did training benefit employer?

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 21

 Evaluating Training and Development Effectiveness

HR can also use performance-based

evaluation measures.

post-training method: employees’ on-the-job performance is

assessed after training

pre-post-training method: employee’s job performance is

assessed both before and after training, to determine whether
a change has taken place

pre-post-training w/control group: compares results of instructed

group to non-instructed group

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 22

 International Training and Development Issues

Training and development is critical to overseas

employees.
Must teach the culture’s:

politics language

religion economy

history
social climate business practice

may involve role playing, simulations, and immersion in the culture

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 23

 Let’s Play Jeopardy-style!

1. A process of adaptation to a new work role.

What is socialization/onboarding?
2. Individuals adjust to new situations in similar ways.
What is an assumption of employee socialization?
3. Prearrival, encounter, metamorphosis
What are the steps in the socialization process?
4. A central source on company mission, history, policies, benefits, and
culture.
What is an employee handbook?
5. Job rotation, assistant-to positions, committee assignments,
lectures/seminars, simulations.
What are the employee development methods?
6. They help employees adapt to OD efforts.
What are change agents?
7. Post-training method, pre-post-training, pre-post-training w/control
group.
What are performance-based evaluation methods?

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10/e, DeCenzo/Robbins Chapter 8, slide 24